Well at the end of the day the only guys on here who REALLY knew Mike and Arnold are Guys like Vince and a couple of others.. most of us just go by film footage and interviews and media propaganda.. i enjoy reading their posts(from the Guys on here who met them and know )

SOME SHOTS ARNOLD LOOKS GREAT POSED HARD,AND AHOWING DETAIL HE NEVER HAD,,,RELAXED AND ARMS DROOPED AND SHOLDERS DOWN HE LOOKED A BIT DOWN/FLAT ,,OVERALL HE GOT IT DONE ,ITS THE WAY HE WENT INTO THE SHOW THAT PISSED PEOPLE OFF.

^^Hipolito, can you critique Mentzer's physique, and do you think it was a political decision to place him 5th??? I know you've been to contests, so I'd appreciate your opinion...

. I honestly think it was a political decision he placed so poorly........ Rewind to 1980 and youll see that the whole year was about Frank ( current champ) and Mentzer an alternative new force not necessarily a Weider boy" who was growing in popularity in the same way as Serge or Sergio did before him. Arnold was out of picture,Lou was doing the Hulk,Franco was injured ,Sergio and Serge were simply out of the IFBB umbrella..... So it was Mike Mentzer reign about to begin with new era (decade) he was freakier than Zane,Dickerson etc and he had the looks that sells magazine, even the Weider mustache" as many used to joke around Weiders offices. Not to mention how eloquent and persuasive he was.......On his Physique, his chest while lacking, wasn't really a weak point back then as it has become after the Internet era .....it's hard to say if he could have won. Everyone says Arnold won cause he had better arms than Chris, but so did Mike. You could ask 5 people on the audience that day and they will give you 5 different names!!! No one dominated yet the current champ,Zane ended up in 3rd place. Had Mike won or finished second in 1980 he probably would have taken the tittle from Columbu Dickerson and Bannout in following years....Mike never reached his peak he retired in his 20's.

. I honestly think it was a political decision he placed so poorly........ Rewind to 1980 and youll see that the whole year was about Frank ( current champ) and Mentzer an alternative new force not necessarily a Weider boy" who was growing in popularity in the same way as Serge or Sergio did before him. Arnold was out of picture,Lou was doing the Hulk,Franco was injured ,Sergio and Serge were simply out of the IFBB umbrella..... So it was Mike Mentzer reign about to begin with new era (decade) he was freakier than Zane,Dickerson etc and he had the looks that sells magazine, even the Weider mustache" as many used to joke around Weiders offices. Not to mention how eloquent and persuasive he was.......On his Physique, his chest while lacking, wasn't really a weak point back then as it has become after the Internet era .....it's hard to say if he could have won. Everyone says Arnold won cause he had better arms than Chris, but so did Mike. You could ask 5 people on the audience that day and they will give you 5 different names!!! No one dominated yet the current champ,Zane ended up in 3rd place. Had Mike won or finished second in 1980 he probably would have taken the tittle from Columbu Dickerson and Bannout in following years....Mike never reached his peak he retired in his 20's.